It’s difficult in any context when a team loses its star player. But when that player is the nation’s leading goal scorer, the fallout can be catastrophic.
When Izzy Scane announced she had undergone knee surgery and would miss the entirety of the 2022 season, all eyes turned to Lauren Gilbert to replace the primary scoring role in Northwestern’s offense. It would be an impossible task to replace Scane, who led the NCAA with 6.13 goals per game and accounted for roughly 30% of Northwestern’s goals in 2021. But Gilbert still looked the part of the prime candidate to try to replicate her impact.